Mike Krahulik (Gabe) and Jerry Holkins (Tycho) of Penny Arcade now have their own reality TV show. The first episode of PATV explores the unlikely rise of their video game media empire and covers the recent Penny Arcade Expo and the birth of Jerry's daughter. [more inside]
posted by Vectorcon Systems on Nov 25, 2009 - 30 comments

The Microsoft Surface was the subject of much ridicule. When Gabe and Tycho from Penny Arcade had the chance to sit down with one at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, known colloquially as the ETC, they saw potential for the Surface to become an amazing tool for Dungeons and Dragons tabletop gaming. They offered some suggestions to the team, and months later, SurfaceScapes is the result. Video. [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Oct 21, 2009 - 45 comments

The guys at Penny Arcade often refer to their sequential comics as "dreaded continuity," but some of their storylines have created their own microcosms apart from the usual commentary on things in the broad world video games. Prime examples of these storylines include Cardboard Tube Samurai and Song of the Sorcelator, the latter has spun into a world made by its fans. The newest sequential work started from one of three short "treatments," set in a nineteen-twenties crime fiction which unfolds in a time where "machine intellect" has been outlawed. The first page of Automata was set to music that was composed and performed by Christoph Hermiteer. The second fan creation is a short radio program, based on a script written by the Penny Arcade folks.
posted by filthy light thief on Aug 5, 2009 - 73 comments

As we were talking about Joke Theft, here's an interesting case. It appears that the Daily Show may have stolen a joke from Penny Arcade. [more inside]
posted by Caduceus on Jun 20, 2008 - 105 comments

The only thing cooler than playing D&D is listening to recordings of people playing D&D! Tycho and Gabe from Penny Arcade and Scott Kurtz of PvP got together with a couple of Wizards of the Coast guys for an episodic D&D romp to promote the upcoming release of D&D 4th edition. The first episode (and pictures!) is available online. Enjoy!
posted by xorry on May 30, 2008 - 53 comments

The first video game based on the internet's most prominent gaming comic, Penny Arcade is released today. [more inside]
posted by Caduceus on May 21, 2008 - 43 comments

"We need to make a comic so I can eat lunch." You're in your office sitting at your desk. There's a hot mic in the room. It's 45 minutes 'till lunch, your tummy's grumbling and you still have to write a comic. Fortunately your best friend -- who is also the co-founder of your decade-old business empire -- is sitting at his desk a few feet away. You are "Gabe" or "Tycho" of Penny Arcade, and the next 45 minutes will be captured on tape and published for all the world to hear as a podcast. But only if it's good. "Downloadable Content, The Penny Arcade Podcast" is practically a documentary on collaboratively authoring webcomics. The most recent episode is a particularly good example of that. [more inside]
posted by sdodd on Mar 11, 2008 - 23 comments

A CNN scare piece on the rise of teen "sport killings" lead off with the story of a group of teenagers who brutally murdered a homeless man and then blamed it on violent video games. Penny Arcade's Gabe responded with an equally inflammatory, though tongue-in-cheek, post blaming the parents.

It seemed like just another case of the media rushing to blame video games while the truth lay somewhere else. It turns out that the stepmother of one of the murderers is an avid reader of Penny Arcade and she emailed them with the real, unreported story. (you'll need to scroll down for both Penny Arcade posts)
posted by unsupervised on Feb 21, 2007 - 92 comments

"Tell me more of Elemenstoring, Dogus." From the tiny seed of a news post, a new world has taken form. Too bad it never existed.
posted by Loser on Nov 23, 2005 - 12 comments

Jack Thompson, well-known anti-videogame violence crusader, recently submitted a modest proposal to the game industry: Make an ultraviolet game of his creation featuring, but not limited to, urinating on the brain stems of slain fictional game industry members, and he will donate $10,000 dollars to charity. Of course people leapt at the chance, and of course, Thompson backed out. So then Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade donated the $10,000 dollars to charity themselves in Thompson's name. Thompson's response? Call the cops! No wonder the National Institute on Media and the Family distanced themselves from him.
posted by robocop is bleeding on Oct 18, 2005 - 78 comments

A tour with WotC, a session to play D&D with them. Lifetime subscription to Steam. Ok, some items are better than others. But for Child's Play, the folks at PA are pulling one heckuva dream auction for geeks. More auction items are detailed, go to the the second news post.
posted by eurasian on Nov 18, 2004 - 6 comments

Penny Arcade remixes Penny Arcade remixes. A Japanese high-school English teacher assigns his students to fill in the captions of Penny Arcade comics. The results, predictably, are often really funny.
posted by abcde on Apr 12, 2004 - 17 comments

Wil Wheaton sums it up best -- Penny Arcade's Child's Play, as posted previously, has been completely ignored by the media, despite donating over US$200,000 worth or toys and cash to a local children's hospital. 11,100 news items on violence in video games, 3 news items on video gamers opening their hearts and wallets.
posted by krisjohn on Jan 5, 2004 - 78 comments

Child's Play - Penny Arcade, the popular gaming web comic, is looking to reverse some of the stigma that comes with playing games, by asking the community to send games to children at the Seattle Children’s Hospital.
posted by Orange Goblin on Nov 26, 2003 - 10 comments

Before there were videogames ... an archive of old penny arcade machines.
posted by crunchland on Sep 28, 2003 - 7 comments

Penny Arcade, everyone's favorite gamegeek comic strip(well, not everyone's, but mine) is facing legal action over a recent strip they did, parodying Strawberry Shortcake. It seems American Greetings owner of such 80s icons as Popples and the aforementioned Shortcake, don't take too kindly to folks using their precious nostalgia. Here's the offending cartoon.
posted by hughbot on Apr 23, 2003 - 30 comments

Priorites. From your local K-mart comes this exercise in futility.
posted by owillis on Jun 3, 2000 - 1 comment